ithlilian 's review for:

The Brethren by John Grisham

2.0

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I'm not sure I really see the point of some of these Grisham books. This can't be considered a thriller since nothing thrilling happens, and it's not a mystery, it's basically just a long winded story, and not a very interesting one at that. It's as if three old men are sitting down to tell their tale of being corrupt unlikable people that scam from a comfortable prison. There's a presidential race going on and supposedly something nasty is going to happen to cause a world war, but that never actually happens. It's just a guy running for president with a lot of money, and some corrupt judges in prison. I thought there would eventually be more, but there is not. Either way I didn't care about the backstory of the judges, or the daily workings of their alcoholic lawyer. This is the second Grisham book in a row with unlikable alcoholics. I guess some people find that easy to relate to, I don't find it endearing, and I don't feel sorry for the characters, I just want them all to go away. As a story about a scam three unlikable men perpetrate, this succeeds, unfortunately, that is not nearly good enough for me to call this a decent book. I mean you have to have some reason to continue reading, or some character that you love to read about, and there is nothing like that here at all.